Episode 982 (25th May 1970)
Plot Albert is bored on the bank holiday and grumpy with Ken and Val as they plan a day out. Dave takes Irma out again, to Hilda's fury. Betty is scared when Lucas hangs around outside the Corner Shop. He asks Maggie when Cyril will be back. Ken and Val plan a surprise day out for Albert but he takes umbrage at them for not telling him where they're going and refuses to go with them. Cyril returns early. Bernard is upset that Irma and Dave have gone out again. Hilda plagues Stan about tackling Dave so he's forced to tell her about the deeds. Lucas suggests to Betty that Cyril and Maggie are an item and she throws a drink in his face. He threatens to deal with her soon. Maggie tells Cyril that something's wrong with Betty. Irma and Dave don't enjoy their day out as they were stuck in a traffic jam to Blackpool. The Barlows enjoy a country park until it starts to rain. Albert enjoys his bank holiday getting drunk with Jack and Len in the Rovers. Hilda continues to rage about the deeds until Stan points out to her the benefits of having a bookie for a son-in-law. Cyril forces Betty to tell him about Lucas. He determines to teach him a lesson. Cast Regular cast *Kenneth Barlow - William Roache *Betty Turpin - Betty Driver *Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth *Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid *Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough *Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander *Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson *Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie *Maggie Clegg - Irene Sutcliffe *Cyril Turpin - William Moore *Bet Lynch - Julie Goodyear *Bernard Butler - Gorden Kaye *Peter Barlow - Christopher Dormer *Susan Barlow - Wendy Jane Walker Guest cast *Dave Smith - Reginald Marsh *Keith Lucas - David Webb Places *Coronation Street *Rovers Return Inn - Public/Snug *13 Coronation Street - Back room and hallway *14 Coronation Street - Living room, kitchen and hallway *Corner Shop - Shop and back room *Country park Notes *This was the final episode of the programme broadcast until 24th June 1970 due to a technician's strike at Granada Television which stopped production and broadcasting at the station for one month. The strike began at 7.00am on 26th May as 324 technicians in ACTT (Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians) walked out in support of a 12% pay rise, partly for working in colour, a side of the dispute that would escalate into the ITV Colour Strike on 13th November. The strike only affected Granada - the rest of the ITV network carried on as usual but without any Granada programmes, including Coronation Street, however viewers in the Granada area were denied access to two important events in 1970 - the World Cup and the British General Election, both of which took place during the strike period, and Granada themselves suffered £270,000 in lost revenue. The dispute was called off on Saturday 20th June but it took until Monday 22nd June for the service to be resumed, which it did at 2.35pm. The decision was taken not to proceed that evening with the next episode of Coronation Street but instead to repeat this episode to the entire country as it was felt that audiences would have forgotten the events that had taken place in the interim. *Scenes on the Grape Street set are shot on both film and videotape. The scenes in the park were also filmed. *''TV Times'' synopsis: Stan has a confession to make but it's Betty Turpin who goes through the "third degree". *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 4,250,000 homes (19th place). This was the lowest-rated episode of the year and was due to the episode being shown on a Bank Holiday Monday and opposite the popular BBC1 programme Disney Time. The repeat on 22nd June gained a substantially higher audience of 6,600,000 homes which put it in second place in the charts for that week. Notable dialogue Ken Barlow (about Albert Tatlock): "All them scintillating shafts of whit, instant reminisces of the First World War and it’s the way he always meets adversity with a merry quip and a smile." Episode 0982 Category:Special repeats